


Rewrite the Story

by d-ama-ien (ama_janee)



Series: A Lifetime of Lies [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF, Who Killed Markiplier? (Web Series), markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Other, This is a rewrite AU, WKM, Who Killed Markiplier - Freeform, and and OC AU, this self indulgent BS took entirely too long
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 06:00:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16655545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ama_janee/pseuds/d-ama-ien
Summary: Once in the 1930s, a group of old friends gathered and played a game of poker. That night, everything went to shit, even though no one knew until the next morning.An AU retelling of Who Killed Markiplier to introduce my version of events for the next story in this fic series. There's two pieces that make up the AU- AU where the story has a new character (my reader character) and AU where these events legitimately happened and Actor/Asshole Mark is just pretending to be a nice YouTuber, and his various egos are real living things.





	1. WKM?- Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr @d-ama-ien for lots of Ego content, and to get updates on stories! I may also open requests in the future.

Once in the 1930s, a group of old friends gathered and played a game of poker. That night, everything went to shit, even though no one knew until the next morning. Back then I was an assistant, working closely alongside the mayor of our city. Though I was just his assistant, he often asked me to help with some of his work. We had been friends since we were children, and he knew I was intelligent and trustworthy, so I worked alongside him instead of under him. We worked closely with the District Attorney, a friend Damien knew from university. They worked well alongside us, and together we were starting to fix the city to its proper glory. Things were going well, and even better since our dearest childhood friend had sent us a letter inviting us to a poker night that would act as a reunion of our old gang. It was exciting, a cherry on top of everything that was already going so well. Who could have known how badly the night would go?

I arrived with Damien, of course, the two of us were together more often than not. A butler greets us at the door, kind and incredibly polite. He’s a new face, though I can’t say precisely how new since I haven’t been to the house in so long. Mark had cut himself off soon after the issues with Celine and William… we tried our best, but any attempt at contact was ignored, so we hadn’t been back to this place for years. The house hasn’t changed much, other than the presence of numerous exhibitions of Mark’s wealth. His family had already been wealthy, but with the acting gigs, he was rolling in dough even though he hasn’t worked for years. “The master should be down soon, but feel free to relax until then. I will be bringing out drinks shortly.”

I look around the living room and am surprised to see a man that I don’t know standing beside the couch. I nudge Damien when I make eye contact with the stranger. Damien is the one who’s in charge of socializing, I’m better at being eye candy when it comes to glitzy parties and small talk. The man introduces himself as Abe, he’s a detective who has been friends with Mark for quite a few years. I listen as the two make polite small talk. Damien always has a way of making conversation like he’s known you all his life, his charm is a huge part of his popularity at the polls. I glance towards the door when the butler opens it again, and grin when I recognize both of the people who come in. Our DA and William, or the Colonel as he goes by now. No awkward small talk with those two. The butler accepts the invitations from them and excuses himself to fetch our drinks when the two fully enter the house. The detective walks away as the DA approaches, Damien greets them warmly. We make short conversation, I can tell that Damien is eager to go and speak to the Colonel, so he excuses himself rather quickly with a quick joke. I talk to them a moment longer before hearing the Colonel call out to me. I excuse myself quickly and join Damien and Will. I receive an enthusiastic hug from our beloved eccentric friend before we do the eager catching up conversation. I hear a familiar voice yelling from the dining room, it sounds like Chef is still working here. The butler scolds him before making rounds with the drinks. It is only after everyone has been served that we hear Mark coming down the stairs.

“Welcome, welcome, one and all! My name is Markiplier, thank you for joining me on this auspicious evening. So good to be surrounded by such close and trusted friends. Now, this evening it’s not all about the poker. It’s not about me. It’s about you. So drink up and be merry! Life is for the living! And who knows? I could be dead tomorrow!” The speech is painfully dramatic, but that’s just how Mark is anymore. We all drink to his toast and take a seat around the poker table. It’s a bit of a blur from there in all honesty. I didn’t go as hard as some, but I definitely had a bit more to drink than necessary. It was just a good round of poker at first, but things got out of hand pretty quickly. There was some fighting, Mark seemed to be a hot point of tension, and the Colonel and Detective definitely weren’t getting along well, but we all went a bit too far. Damien did a keg stand for god’s sake, the DA got knocked out by the Detective, everyone failed immensely at Pong, and then there was a round of Russian roulette. I did my best to stop that one, I remember yelling at Will when he pointed the gun at the detective, but their luck must’ve been pretty high since neither ended up dead. Damien and I go upstairs soon after making sure our DA is okay, the partying was getting to be overwhelming. I can assure you, we had plenty of fun together to finish out the evening’s festivities. My head is ringing when the room’s alarm clock goes off at eight. It’s too early to exist. Work needs to be done though, at least I don’t have to get dressed until breakfast.

Damien dresses right away and leaves the room to get a drink. He has an image to protect, after all, he has to be decent and not caught in bed with his assistant if we want to avoid that scandal taking the papers by storm. There are enough silly conspiracies and rumors circling him. I start organizing his work for the morning, making sure the priority documents are actually getting priority and checking through others to work out the best order. The list of priority items is far too long, there’s no way these twenty documents are all actually that important… I hear Damien’s voice from the stairway and go to the door to tell him the paperwork is already. I call for him from the doorway and then see he’s talking to the DA. They blush, and I realize how it may be misinterpreted for me to be in night clothes and calling Damien to the bedroom. I quickly explain that I have finished going through the morning paperwork, and hope that the DA just thinks I went to get it done first thing after waking up.

“Anyway, now is not the time to be conspiratorial. Life is ours to choose, as I always say. I have some work to do, but I’ll see you at breakfast. We’ll all catch up soon.” Damien manages to excuse himself very gracefully, and the DA heads off down the stairs. I get dressed while Damien starts through the stack of papers. Even on days off its best to look decent for his sake, so I end up wearing an elegant blue dress. In fact, it’s one Damien chose for me.

“Breakfast is at nine, do you need me to come to fetch you?” I ask.

“If I’m not down when everyone else has arrived, please come up and let me know. I’ll keep a careful eye on the clock though.” I leave the room then, but hear shouting coming from the bottom of the stairs, followed by a horrible lightning flash. I hurry the rest of the way, and can’t help but scream when I see what the fuss is about. Mark’s body, face down on the ground. I grab at my chest as I try to rationalize anything that could be wrong except death, but it’s apparent that he won’t be recovering from this, ever. The detective has the DA held by their shirt, he seems to be accusing _them_ of being the killer.

“Sir, the body is cold. He’s been dead a while.” The butler speaks up in defense of the DA. The detective switches his attitude quickly, and I share an incredulous look with the DA.

“A likely story! That I happen to believe completely. You’re off the hook for now, but I’m a detective and-”

“Oh, yeah? Prove you’re a real dick!” Chef snaps.

“Here’s my badge, asshole!” Pictures fall from the detective’s wallet, and the detective tells us an entertaining tale that all of his partners die, some in ironically hilarious ways. Chef and I are both concerned when the detective immediately assigns the DA as his new partner, especially when they say no and he says all of his partners used to say that before dying- but the detective is already bossing them around, so there’s nothing to be done about it. There’s a properly set up crime scene in no time, everyone standing around the now covered body.

“What the hell happened here?” Damien asks, walking up to the edge of the small perimeter of the crime scene.

“Oh! Mr. Mayor. I’m so sorry. There’s been a murder.” There’s lightning again as soon as the butler finishes.

“A murder?” The lightning flares up again, “Who?” He meets my gaze, and I find myself choking on the name when I try to tell him.

It’s Chef who speaks up, finally just saying “It’s Mark.”

“I’m afraid he’s telling the truth,” the detective says, “Mark’s been… killed.” I feel like lightning should accompany that dramatic sentence, but none comes.

“Why? Who would do this?” Damien’s voice almost breaks when he asks the questions on everyone’s minds.

“That’s exactly what me and my new partner here are here to find out.”

“Um, excuse me. I feel we should call the authorities for them to handle this matter.” I move over to Damien and gently touch his arm, but he doesn't even respond. He’s staring at the sheet covering Mark’s body, and he’s as unresponsive as the corpse. The detective is blabbing on about his authority, the storm outside, whatever. I try to whisper to Damien, but the detective’s loud voice cuts through both of us.

“The rest of you, get back to your rooms, hunker down, and pray to God you’re not next to be murdered.” Damien grabs my elbow at that, I know I won’t be leaving his side until there’s not a risk of being attacked by an unknown killer. He’s sweetly protective, but I had never thought I would actually _need_ his protection. Chef and the butler excuse themselves, Damien following suit.

“I- I need to talk to the Colonel about this.” He looks and sounds like he just woke up from a trance and hasn’t quite shaken the effects off. He leaves hastily, and I hesitate before following suit. I wait a bit away from the theater, but it’s still easy to hear Damien and Will fighting. Will has never been good with emotions, and he certainly hasn’t been “friends” with Mark for quite some time… but I’m just as bothered by his flippancy as Damien is. His whole demeanor just isn’t sitting right with me. I share a look with the DA as they approach, drawn by the fuss I’m sure. Damien leaves soon after, gesturing for me to follow him. I stall when I see the DA enter the theater, and glance to make sure Damien has continued on. I stay as the Colonel relays a story of what may have happened last night. It’s not very flattering to Mark of course, but the worst bit is that I’m entirely sure the story is full of shit, and the Colonel is as aware of that as I am. I flinch when I notice the butler approaching, embarrassed to have been caught eavesdropping. He nods politely to me when he reaches the door, and also engages himself in listening to the conversation.

The Colonel dismisses the DA shortly, so I quietly excuse myself and head off to find Damien. I pass the kitchen and head through the beautiful doors that connect to the main terrace. There’s a reflection pool there, I remember many quiet nights where we would all sit alongside the edge and splash water at each other with hushed laughter. I know Damien is nearby, he always loved the view, the pools, especially the gazebo- and there he is. He’s pacing quietly, seeming frustrated with something. He wrings his hands around his cane, briefly clenching his fists before dropping it to his side in defeat. He looks up, meets my eyes, and his face doesn’t change from that same expression of repressed anger, helplessness, and stress that he wore when leaving the Colonel. He sighs deeply as I get close enough to wrap my hands around his, forcing him to loosen his grip and soon let go of the cane. I hold it loosely while gently massaging his hands to release the tension. There are crescent-shaped marks on his palm, but the skin hasn’t broken at least. I’m surprised when he suddenly pulls his hand away from mine and instead wraps his arms around me. We hug quietly, no sound except the gentle beat of our hearts.

“I’m sorry. I know I should be strong, especially for you. You’ve lost your friend too, and instead, I’m just being selfish.” Damien mutters, his voice sounds cracked.

“Damien, it’s okay to take some time to process. I think I could use some time too… I’ll stay nearby if you want to talk, but how about we give each other some space for the time being?” I feel him nod slowly, but he seems hesitant to pull away. He kisses my head before separating completely. I hand him his cane, I know he prefers having something to occupy his hands. He gives me a sad smile as I turn away. As promised I stay close, sitting on the edge of the reflection pool. I stare at my reflection in the water. I look about as tired as I feel, light bags forming under my eyes, body visibly tense. How does one process the death of someone they’ve known their whole life? Especially when its a murder, one that happened right under our noses as we happily partied the night away. I feel like crying, the tears don’t fall though. This situation is completely fucked up, I don’t know what happened, what is happening, I feel useless and helpless and hurt. I look up when I hear the terrace doors open, and find the DA looking at me with sad eyes.

“Please pardon my appearance, I can assure you that there’s nothing you have to worry about with me. I’m more concerned about the mayor than anything, he really isn’t handling this well… Sorry, you’re helping the detective investigate, right? I assume you’ll want to know what I was doing last night?” I ask them with a bitter smile. They nod slowly but don’t look happy about having to question me. I was certainly occupied last night, my alibi is Damien, and his alibi is me, but to share the nature of our relationship is… difficult. “Well, I trust you can keep a secret, you’re a dear friend of ours of course. Damien and I were, well, _together_ last night. We went to bed a bit after your fight with the detective, it was just after one I believe. I’ll spare you the details, but I can assure you we were both very occupied after that, and neither of us left until Damien got up around eight.”

The DA is blushing a bit, and I’m sure I am as well. I basically told them that Damien and I spent the night fucking. Which is accurate, but not anyone else’s business. The DA moves to walk past me, but I impulsively stop them. I don’t want to doubt Will, but what he said about Mark is entirely false. When taking that in the wrong context, it makes him look like he’s covering something up. I don’t want anyone to think of Will as a murderer, but I also can’t let the District Attorney be misled while investigating a crime.

“I have some concerns to share with you. I overheard the Colonel telling you what may have occurred last night, and while I don’t want to cast needless suspicion on anyone, I must tell you that what he said can’t be correct in any fashion. My testimony may not be the most reliable since I was drinking as well, but I can’t recall Mark drinking at all last night. I am certain he didn’t toast with us, and later when I handed him a shot, he passed it right over to Damien. As far as I witnessed, he didn’t have a single drop of liquor, and if he did it can’t have been enough that he’d be so wasted as to fall off his stairs.” The DA looks surprised, and I can practically see them thinking through their own memories to see if they can recall Mark drinking. They thank me quietly, before moving on past me. I can hear when they find Damien, they have their own hushed conversation. The door opens behind me, and I see the detective come out. He immediately passes me without a second glance, I assume looking for the DA.

I watch as he peeks around the corner and quietly calls out to the DA, “Hey! Partner! Get over here, now! Hurry up!” I glance up when I hear the click of the door from the higher patio. Will is standing at the edge of the balcony, watching the detective and DA as they head towards the door. The detective starts talking again, “You’re not gonna believe this; I can barely believe this! The body: it’s gone. It just fucking disappeared! Look.”

I stumble in my haste to get up and follow them, I look up at the Colonel as I walk inside and we make brief eye contact before he turns away. I bury my concern to focus on the bigger issue: the body is seriously gone. All that remains is the chalk outline of the body, including some questionable details. The caution tape has been torn, clearly broken in haste. Now there are even more questions to be had as if just finding a killer wasn’t enough for us to deal with. Now we have to find the damn body too.


	2. WKM?- Chapter Two

“Who did this?!” The detective starts shouting now, “It certainly wasn’t me. No, no. Somebody, not me, must have moved it between the time I was the last person alone with the body in the room and then stepped out for a few minutes to take care of some personal business that you don’t need to know about. Could have been anybody.. Except me.” I share a look with the DA, mostly because that entire speech was shady as hell, but the butler comes in raising his own ruckus. 

“What the hell happened here?”

“The body’s been moved.”

“On its own?” His tone accurately conveys the incredulousness that I’m also feeling, and the detective continues to not help. 

“No, of course not. Unless it did, in which case we’ve got way bigger problems than a simple murder.” The lightning flares again, surprising since it was beautiful out moments ago. The chef comes to join the commotion, repeating the same concerns as the detective tries to get us back on track by reminding everyone that there’s still a murderer. The lightning continues outside, and then the Colonel graces us with his presence. He seems much more amicable now than he was earlier today. 

“Bully! Quite a storm out there, eh, chaps? What are you doing huddled in here in fear?”

“We’ve got a zombie problem!” Chef explains though it might not be the most accurate description of what has happened.

“Ah, Homo necrosis! The _most_ dangerous game! Well, if someone needs to put the old lad down again, I’m well up for the privilege.” I’m bothered by the phrasing, and I’m not the only one.

“What do you mean by “again,” and what do you mean by “privilege”?” The detective questions. 

“Well, I’m just saying, I’ve got plenty of,” Will fumbles for the words, gesturing vaguely towards the tape lines, “e-experience on the matter.” 

“So do I,” Chef adds his input with a frightening grin.

“Yeah, that just raises more questions.” The detective points out, but Will seems unbothered. At least the butler and DA seem as concerned by the insinuation as I am. 

“Well, I’m off to the grounds to see if I can catch a whiff of the old bag of bones, eh?” Will continues as casually as if he’s talking about hunting deer. He laughs as he exits, giving no acknowledgment to the butler’s following question except to laugh a bit louder. 

“All right, I don’t trust him. Then again, I don’t trust anyone.” Everyone reacts with a strong look of concern and raise their hands as if surrendering the point. The detective gives everyone instructions and hits on the butler while doing so, before getting back on the investigative track. “I think we all forgot the most important question of all during this arousing game of whodunit. Why? Why?” He takes the DA with him after dropping the unfortunate bombshell of a question, leaving the butler and me alone with each other. We share a grim look. 

“It may be best for you to wait in your room, miss. Or look for the mayor if you don’t want to be cooped up in here. I can’t say I’d blame you if that were the case.” The butler says. I nod slowly, wishing I could follow the detective and DA to try and help with the investigation. But those two are indeed best suited for the task, so I opt to seek out Damien instead. It was unfortunate, but really he was the only one I could trust in this house. If nothing else, he was accounted for the whole night, the only one I could stake my life on that he wasn’t the killer. I found him outside, now sitting inside the gazebo with his cane laid across his lap. 

“The body is missing.” Damien is rightfully shocked, it’s only after I say it that I think the news should have been dropped more gently. Is there a good way to give the news that not only has your friend been murdered, but his body is also missing on top of it? Could’ve used more tact at least. “Chef and Will think he’s a zombie, they’re keeping an eye out for that. Detective and the DA are investigating, I saw them head upstairs before I came out here.” Damien slowly nods at my report, sighing deeply. He sounds so tired. 

“I can’t understand why this is happening. Who of us here would want to kill Mark? We were all friends! And even considering the issues in recent years, I can’t see William stooping to murder. And of course I can defend your innocence to the grave, my dear, but someone must have done it! It’s just so damn confusing, and on top of it, all the body is gone? Just up and walked out, taking all the evidence with it?” He drops his head into his hands, and I notice his shoulders are slightly shaking. I wrap my arms around him and am glad to feel his body relax into mine. I’m happy that, if nothing else, Damien and I can have each other to get through these horrid events. We sit together for a long time until the voice of the Colonel rings out through the air. Damien sits up immediately, “Stay right here, I need to talk to the Colonel. I’ll be right back.” 

He said to stay, but he knows I’m not very good at keeping my nose out of other people’s business, and so I follow closely behind. He gives me a look but says nothing. He rounds the corner of the house quickly, I decide to linger behind.

“Have you seen the Colonel? I thought I heard him. I need to speak with him. I may have been a bit short at our last encounter. Well, if you do see him, let me know.” He comes back towards me, I hear a splash and shout shortly after we walk away but since Damien doesn’t seem to care to investigate I don’t bother looking. I do get his attention when I hear a shout from the golf course, and Damien rushes ahead of me. “Colonel?” It’s only the DA at the top of the stairs. “Damn, I thought I heard him. No matter. Would you accompany us?”

Damien starts backing towards the house, finally speaking up about his concerns. “There’s something that I would… very much like to discuss with you. Now I know you’ve been assisting our… intrepid detective with his investigation, but… I have to bring some concerns of mine to the forefront. If we look at this situation logically, we can only assume that the killer who struck down our dear friend Mark was with us last night. And while I would stake my life on the innocence of the Colonel or either of you, can we really say the same of our beloved detective? Or worse yet, mayhaps our counting skills aren’t as good as we assume them to be. And mayhaps… in the shadows of this manor, unseen to any of us, lay hidden… A murderer.” Lightning appropriately completes the ominous thought, but even the loud crash of thunder doesn’t hide the gunshot and yelling from inside. We share a short look of panic before sprinting towards the house, flinging open the nearby doors, and find ourselves in the middle of a standoff. The detective and Colonel are both in defensive positions with their weapons aimed at each other. The DA approaches, looking like they’re going to try and stop the two, but they are firmly ignored by the men.

“I don’t know what you’re playing at, but you better lower your weapon, you murderer!” 

“I bloody well won’t, you’re the one who assaulted me! For all, I know you could be the murderer!” The lightning storm is raging now, and the clamor attracts the others. Chef smartly backs off when he sees the guns, but the butler seems more concerned with a broken item than the issue at hand. 

“Everyone, please! I know we’re all on edge, but can’t we resolve this amicably?” I grab Damien’s arm and pull him behind me when the men turn their attention, and weapons, towards him. 

“On edge?” The detective snaps, “This psycho tried to shoot me!”

“That’s a bald-faced lie! I was merely doing some light target practice!”

“Inside?!” The butler interrupts, and wacks Will with a broom. 

“Well, yes, I couldn’t go on the grounds with that bloody chef in my way, could I?”

“You’re damn right! You should’ve remembered that, Private!” Chef accents his point by smacking Colonel with a ladle, “Besides, you’re not my boss anymore!”

“It’s “Colonel” now,” Will growls and gets in Chef’s face until the detective interrupts him. 

“Enough of this horseshit! You knew I was onto you and tried to whack me off before I could finger you!” There’s an uncomfortable pause as everyone processes the double meaning to the detective’s words, and he awkwardly continues, “As the murderer!”

“I will not be called a murderer in my own home!”

“Stop!” There’s a shout from the doorway, as a familiar dark-haired woman bursts into the room. It’s genuinely good timing too, as definitely one was going to shoot if the fight was allowed to continue. I almost relax, until I realize just who has come into the doorway.


	3. WKM?- Chapter Three

“What are you doing?” Celine demands. Everyone is as surprised by her appearance as I am, shocked by her timing, shocked by _her_. None of us who knew her had seen her for years, after all. 

“Who the hell are you?” The detective snaps back. 

“Celine? What are you doing here?” Will’s voice is softened when he speaks to her directly, but the detective continues on loudly.

“‘Celine’? How the hell do you know her?” 

The Colonel refocuses his gun on the detective when the butler calmly interjects, “Madame, I’m afraid you’ve come at a very inopportune time. Something dreadful has happened here.”

The Colonel is on edge, pointing his gun at anyone who speaks now. Celine’s voice commands our attention, “I can see that, and I’m glad I got here before it got any worse.”

Chef takes over now, “This is only the _tip_ of the iceberg! And it’s a big iceberg. How can I put this delicately… Mark’s fucking dead!” 

Celine is taken aback, quiet now, “What?”

“Dead like my hopes and dreams,” Chef continues, earning a confused but pitying look from Celine and I. But he still isn’t done, “And he’s a flesh-eating zombie, too.” 

“Homo necrosis,” she suggests. Is that actually a thing or did she and Will make that up? 

The Colonel answers before I can ask, “Exactly, hence the guns.” 

“That is not ‘hence the guns’!” The detective snaps, waving his gun back at Will. 

“Stop waving those bloody guns around!” The butler yells in exasperation, and he just earns himself a faceful of gun (and ladle?) waving. 

“Hold on!” Celine interrupts, “Tell me what happened! How did Mark… die?”

“It was murder,” Damien speaks for the first time since Celine arrived, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “And worse yet… the body is missing.”

“What? Show me. And don’t say that word!” Celine takes charge of the situation, as usual. Even Damien will default to her when she’s around, despite his own leadership skills.

“What word? Murder?”

“Yes! That word!” I’m temporarily confused at how we got to the crime scene, but figure it’s not anything significant.

“Well, I mean murder is an accurate description of what occur-” The butler starts before being interrupted by Celine slapping his arm.

“Do you not see the lightning?” I’m glad someone else has noticed the weird timing of the lightning storms, I swore I was just making it up at this point. 

“You sayin’ it was _lightning_ that murdered Mark?” The detective asks in disbelief.

The colonel and I start talking at the same time. I say “I’m pretty sure that isn’t what she was saying at all-” while Will says “Mother Nature doesn’t exactly strike me as having murderous intent. Unless you count that time, I was sucked into the board game Jumanji, and I was-”

Sucked into a board game? I make a face at Will but am disappointed that Celine interrupts before we can hear more of that story. 

“Stop, stop! Look, whatever is happening here is tapping into forces far beyond our control.” 

Everyone looks at each other with trepidation for a moment until Chef pipes up, “Murder!” 

The lightning reacts to the word but doesn’t respond when Abe and Will both test with similar sounding words. For some reason it lashes out when butler joins in with “Marco!” and then we’re sitting around the table in the adjacent room with Celine snapping at the group. 

“Enough! Look. Mark’s death is a terrible thing indeed. But I fear that there are forces much darker than anything we’ve seen here today. I’m well versed in the Arcane arts,” she is? “but if you, untrained and uninitiated, can summon lightning with a mere word, we’re all in far graver danger than anything we can hope to face alone. We’re gonna have to work together if we’re gonna survive this.”

“Celine, what are you proposing?” Damien is staring at her with furrowed brows, apparently confused.

“We need to speak with Mark.” There’s a flurry of intense reactions to the proposal.

“I knew it! He’s a flesh-eating zombie!” Chef exclaims.

“No,” 

“Well, maybe one of those smart zombies: homeo sapio zombifus,” Will has to be pulling that out of his ass, I swear-

“No, no. I need to commune with the dead.” Fine, I’ll take the zombifus if that’s the idea.

“That… doesn’t sound like a good idea.” The detective points out, I nod in agreement.

“Well, it’s a good thing I don’t need your permission.” Celine glares at him with a look that could wither flowers, and the butler chuckles at her response. “But you! You’ve been awfully quiet through this whole thing.”

She fixes the DA with a look of suspicion, drawing the eyes of everyone else to our friend. Yes, they have been quiet, but they usually are. A person of few, but powerful, words, good at getting confessions and deals with the right kind of body language. Celine doesn’t know them though so I can see why it may look like a guilty conscious keeping their mouth shut. But Celine’s words draw a flurry of criticism from the others around the table.

“With those beady eyes,” Chef growls, which is not true at all, their eyes are just lovely.

“And wearing _those_ rags? Pff,” the butler adds. I think their dress is appropriate and professional looking, reflective of their position. 

“Maybe I shouldn’t have trusted someone so goddamn gorgeous.” The detective says, and I think that’s the most complimentary insult I’ve ever heard.

Everyone looks to the next person around the circle, but Will just looks to the others before looking at the DA and saying, “Oh, I’ll pass.”

“But I feel like I can trust you. I sense that you have a far greater part to play in all of this,” Celine has always been a good judge of character, I guess she can tell that they aren’t hiding anything. “Will you help me find an answer?”

The DA nods in agreement, earning a smile from Celine. “Perfect, come with me,” she says and starts to stand before the detective interrupts.

“Alright, that’s enough. I’m not gonna just sit around and let you drag my partner off to their very likely death. I won’t stand for it!” He slams his hands on the table, as he stands for it.

“Well, I trust Celine with all my heart! I see no reason why any-” Will stutters as he also stands, “anyone should doubt her!” 

Those two have some masculine dominance standoff while the butler shares his own opinion, “Well, I have to agree with our intrepid detective here. It just doesn’t seem natural.”

“I never liked this uptight asshole,” Chef points at the butler, “He walks around with a stick up his ass. But I think he’s right. Something’s weird.” 

“If it makes you feel any better, you guys can stand watch outside the door, but my work cannot be interrupted!”

“Oh, believe you me. I’ll be keeping a close eye on every single one of you.” The Detective eyes everyone suspiciously, “Even myself.” There’s a slight pause before he grins at the DA, “Especially myself.” 

Celine seems to be tired of the bickering, she stands and starts towards the stairs. The DA stands to follow, leaving Damien glancing between them in confusion. 

“Wha- Celine? Celine, wait.” Damien scrambles to his feet, hurrying to block Celine from the stairs, “Wait!”

Celine sighs, “Yes, Damien?”

“I… are you alright?” Celine sighs and goes to interrupt him, but he continues, “I know this news can’t be settling well with you.” I start counting in my head, I’ll give ten seconds before following. When Celine’s on a mission, you won’t get a lot of her time, so ten seconds should be plenty of time for her to brush Damien off in private.

“I’m fine for now,” she pushes past him up the stairs, and I start counting while watching them go up.

“I, er. But all of this talk of the occult! And- Mark is dead, wait! Wait.” Their voices carry down the stairwell easily, everyone at the table is visibly tense and look highly uncomfortable with the dispute. “I just didn’t think you were the type to get mixed up with all this.”

“They sound like old lovers quarreling.” The butler says, earning noises of disgust from most of us around the table.

“They’re siblings!” I exclaim, and the butler grimaces.

“Sibling dispute makes more sense. My apologies.” I shake my head as I get up from the table, figuring they had enough time to “figure it out.” By “figure it out” I mean “Damien will have been shut down by Celine at this point,” of course. 

I hear Damien call out “Just be careful!” as I start up the stairs, so I know my timing was accurate. I see him mutter to the DA as they also pass him, he looks resigned now. I grab his arm and pull him into a quick hug, making sure we’re separated before anyone joins us on the second floor. 

“What a reunion, huh?” He chuckles as the Colonel appears beside us, but the laugh is bitter and doesn’t come close to convincing anyone he isn’t hurt. He has every right to be upset, his older sister just brushed him off like nothing, even though they haven’t seen each other in a long time.

“She’s always been a bit hot-headed, you can never stop her when her mind is made up,” I remind him. Damien nods in agreement, sighing deeply. As the younger brother, he’s quite used to her hot-headed treatment. He had complained to me about it many times when we were kids. They had small disputes fairly often, despite being close. 

“Yeah, but what’s up with this weird occult shit?” Chef asked. Now, that one had Damien and I at a loss as well, we had always enjoyed stories of ghosts and witches when younger, but I had never known her to actually study the topics. Damien’s face told me he was as clueless as I and Will’s face betrayed no information. 

“Well, I’m just exhausted. I feel my presence is no longer needed, so I’ll be retiring to my room, unless there are any objections?” No one said anything in response, and so the colonel excused himself from the group, heading down the hall. Moments later there’s shouting from the room Celine and the DA went into. The detective, who has now joined us, doesn’t hesitate, immediately storming into the room.

“What the shit is this?” He asks in disbelief. Damien and I follow him in, looking around the room in confusion. 

“Get out! We are not done here!” Celine shouts at us, I’m taken aback by her sudden aggression. 

“Celine, I think this is quite enough,” Damien says.

“It’s enough when I _say_ it’s enough!” 

The detective grabs the DA, hurriedly pulling them from the room, and taking the paper from their hands. I stand in the doorway to watch him call for the butler, but stay right by the room so that I can intervene if Damien needs any help. I’m not sure Celine would be any more willing to listen to me then she’s willing to listen to Damien, but I can’t leave him alone with her right now. The two are hushed inside the room, but the detective and house staff are plenty loud to overhear their conversation. Turns out there’s been a groundskeeper here the whole damn time.

“For all we know, he could be the murderer!” The detective shouts, drawing Celine and Damien from the room. 

“For the last time, stop saying that word!” Celine storms up to the group, an exasperated Damien and I following close behind. 

“Look. George... just tends to the grounds, man. He’s a fuckin’ hermit!” Chef explains. 

“I don’t care what the fuck he is!” The detective shoots back.

“Look, all of this arguing is getting us nowhere! Just go outside and talk to this George and be done with it!” Damien says in frustration. 

“Hold on a sec. You’re not coming with us?”

“I- I need to stay here with Celine.” 

“I don’t need help, _especially from you_!” Celine replies.

“ _Our friend is dead_!” Damien’s voice raises in frustration, but he collects himself quickly, “I’m sorry. I just need answers to all of this. I already lost one friend today; I don’t want to lose another.”

“Fine, but I need to stay here.”

“Fine with me.” I look at Damien with concern and am not sure what to do. He’ll want to be alone with his sister, but I also don’t want to leave him and go with this group.

“Fine, good, yeah, whatever, who cares. Alright, you’re coming with me. Partner, you too.” Seems I’m not welcomed on the adventure, so I guess I’ll just hang around the room while they talk? Damien grabs my hand briefly, giving me a warm smile, before he turns and goes with Celine. I watch the two head down the hall while the detective continues.

“Hold on a sec… we’re missing somebody. Who had eyes on the colonel?”

“Well, he appeared tired, and went back to his room.” The butler explains. 

“I’m sure he did. And with any luck, he’ll stay there.” I finally think of something I can do, and immediately perk up.

“I can go check on him if that would be helpful,” I suggest, and the detective nods in acknowledgment.

“Good idea. Alright, let’s roll out. Come on.” I turn to watch as Damien and Celine close the door before going to Will’s old room on the other side of the floor. He shouts his acknowledgment when I knock, so I come in slowly. The room hasn’t changed since the last time I had been over, decorated with military and hunting toys from our youth, and some personal memorabilia from our older teens and early twenties. It’s so nostalgic it hurts, but I force myself to enter the room fully. Will is sitting on the edge of the bed, holding his usual hat in his hands. I can’t recall the last time I saw him without it, he looks so much younger. 

“Ah, good to see you, dear. It’s quite unfortunate we haven’t gotten to talk much this reunion.”

“Well, you can’t say that, considering you were avoiding Damien and me most of the day.” 

“Not true! Only Damien, not you. I must say, I was a bit embarrassed by my conduct during our argument. He was obviously upset, and I was just a jerk because I was angry at Mark…I’m always ridiculous, I can never just face the issue head-on.”

“At least you admit it,” I say, sitting beside him, “You can apologize to Damien when this all gets worked out.” Will doesn’t look convinced but murmurs some agreement.

“Are you doing okay?” He asks suddenly, turning slightly to face me. I blink in confusion, and he shrugs. “I know you, always putting everyone else first. Especially the people you _love_.” He emphasizes the last word, giving me a knowing look. I sputter while trying to think of how to reply, but he just busts out in laughter. “Come on, you two can’t seriously think you’ve been fooling any of us? Maybe the public, but me or that DA? Even the detective would be able to see through you two, especially since you never went back to your own room.” 

I feel my face burning in a blush as Will reveals that basically, everyone had guessed we were together when we went upstairs at the same time. “There’s a reason we don’t drink with other people.” 

“No shame in being in love, darling. Your little office fling isn’t the hottest romance gossip of this house, so you’ve got nothing to worry about. Not like anyone would sell you guys out anyway.” 

The mood is temporarily awkward when Will processes that he brought up his own affair. That is an untouchable subject, especially since my lover’s sister and the ex-wife of our ex-alive friend is the woman he seduced. I attempt to save the conversation, “Well, it’s just a habit to keep it to ourselves now. When he retires, we’re going to date properly, publicly. And then you’ll be his best man, and DA my best person, and we’ll have years to make up for all the time we spent trying to hide it from everyone.”

Will grins at the bright idea and starts to reply when suddenly the house begins to tremble. There’s a horribly loud thunderclap, and some strange light flares from under the door and outside the window. The lightning rumbles continuously, the odd light flickering. Will shoots up, heading for the door. 

“Come here, keep close. Stay behind me,” Will orders, causing me to scramble to my feet after him. I hear the detective shouting as Will exits the room, with me right behind. I peek around him in time to see the DA run past, down the hall towards where Damien and Celine had been. I push past Will, struggling against him when he grabs my arm and holds me back. The light is coming from the room, almost blinding when the door flings open. I try to wrench my arm free from Will, but he has an iron grip on me. “Whatever it is isn’t safe, stay here!”

I watch helplessly when Celine appears in the doorway, she doesn’t look like herself. She looks… malicious. The DA and man I don’t recognize both struggle to shut the door, soon succeeding in pushing her back into the room.


	4. WKM?- The Final Chapter

I’m shoved out of the way as Will moves to approach the stranger and DA, shouting “What the hell is going on? Where’s Celine?”

“And Damien,” I add, approaching the group, “They were in there together, he must be in there, and now he’s stuck, you locked him inside!” I snap at the groundskeeper, but he brushes past me.

“She’s gone, and so is everyone else.” The man addresses Will first, glancing back at me when he says that everyone is gone. 

“Wait a minute, where the hell do you think you’re going?” The detective pushes off the wall as he calls after the man.

“Away from here! This place is cursed! If you’d half a brain, you’d all do the same.” His voice is solemn, but he doesn’t even pause as he passes all of us and continues down the hall.

“Don’t walk away from me! Where’s Celine? Where’s Damien?” The colonel storms after him, but stops to talk to the group when the groundskeeper disappears from sight with no acknowledgment to the questions. 

“I’ve spent twenty-five years cooking for these uppity fucks. I’m not about to die for ‘em! I quit! _Bitch_!” Chef takes his leave, the poor butler slams into the wall to miss the warpath. 

He speaks next, resting a reassuring hand on the colonel’s shoulder, “I know things seem far beyond your control right now, but such that it is for all of us here. I shall take my leave, and I implore you to do the same.”

“I won’t let my friends _die_ in this _god forsaken house_! And if you all are too much of a coward to do the same, you had best leave before I kill you myself!”

“Now you hold on a second, I’ve got more questions-” The detective tries to grab for the colonel, but is violently shaken off.

“Get your hands off me!” He shouts back, not slowing at all as he marches down the hall. 

I call after him, getting no response, and the detective follows with a frustrated exclamation, “What the hell is going on here?!”

“I know he’s in pain, and I know you must be too… but we need to leave this place. There’s only death here now.” I stare after the butler in shock and seek the DA out for comfort. But I’m concerned about Will and Abe, and I need to find the keys to this room, I have to find Damien.

“No, not only death. He can’t be… I’m sorry, you must excuse me.” I mutter vaguely towards the DA and hurry to find Will. He lived here, he may know where there’s a set of keys. I need to get into that room, no matter what. Even… even if he’s dead, I have to see him. I didn’t say goodbye properly, I didn’t say that I loved him… I listen for shouting to try and find the two men, but there’s nothing but quiet. I somehow find myself downstairs, but I swore I had turned to get to Will’s room… I shrug it off, go back up the stairs. I see the detective now, he lost track of Will somewhere along the way. 

“Listen, if you see him, I need to speak to him. I don’t wanna concern you, but he's my prime suspect right now. I don’t think he’s a danger to you, but he does need to be brought to justice.”

“You really think that Will was the one who killed Mark? They were practically like brothers!”

“Yeah, until he screwed his “brother’s” wife, using his “brother’s” cash to do so. If nothing else, he’s not innocent in that sense.” I flinch at the reminder of what drove our friend group apart, but even with that fair point, I can’t see him killing Mark for it. He was the one who betrayed Mark after all, not the other way around. The detective sighs. He pats my shoulder, hand lingering for a moment before he walks past me. With no luck finding Will or keys, I find myself standing outside the door of the room they had been using. I briefly swear I hear something from inside, so I hesitantly call for Damien through the door. There is no answer, worrying me. Maybe he really is… I can’t bring myself to complete the thought. There’s a faint commotion, from downstairs. It’s Will, shouting, his voice getting louder as he comes up the stairs. 

“Where is he? **Where is he**?” I hear a door slam, followed by “Detective! Are you hiding him from me? He can’t hide forever. **Get out of my way**!” I back away from the door when I notice the detective standing beside me, I can say with fair certainty that I don’t want to be between Will and his target when he finds him. “Detective!”

He comes around the corner now, Abe appears to be ready for him as he immediately draws his gun and takes a defensive stance. “You’d better choose your next words carefully, Colonel.” 

“Only my friends get to call me that name, and you sir are _no_ friend of mine!” Will turns towards me now, I gasp when he points the gun at my chest. “And _you_! You were hiding him from me, you knew!” 

“Well, you’re one to talk about friends, you _murderer_!” Abe interjects before I can attempt to defend myself, it, fortunately, draws the gun away from me. 

“I didn’t kill anybody! This is madness!” 

“Oh, you wanna talk about madness? Madness is stealing your best friend’s wife. Madness is squeezing him for cash to fund your sick sexual exploits with that very woman-”  
I watch the DA rush at Will and try to wrestle the gun from him, but he just shoves them off and yells “Shut up!” at the detective, who continues carelessly. 

“Madness is plotting the death of your childhood friend because you can’t handle the truth-” The thunder mixes with the horrible ring of a gunshot, I scream in horror as Abe crumbles to the ground, and immediately rush to his side, trying to use the little first aid knowledge I have to help him. I press firmly on the wound, wincing at the feeling of blood on my hand. I look up to see the DA going for the gun again, and I can feel my heart drop as I realize what’s going to happen. I almost go to interfere, but think of how freely Will pointed his gun at me moments before and pause. My hesitation is too long, too late, the gun going off again, point blank at the DA’s stomach. 

“No!” I scream, leap up to try and reach them, Will doing the same while saying “It was an accident!” 

We’re both too late, and I almost throw up when I hear the body hit the ground with a sickening crack. My legs go out from underneath me, I drop to my knees in shock of what just happened. “I swear…” Will says, voice breaking. /p>

I crawl back to the detective’s side, praying there could still be a chance of saving him, press my hand again on the wound, and feel no heartbeat under my hand. I feel tears now, finally crying for the first time since Mark’s death. I look at my bloodstained hands, at the splatter on my clothes from being so close when they were shot. I look up at Will, who is leaning over the banister, face a blank expression of shock. 

“You killed them. You killed them both… and you killed Mark too, didn’t you?” My voice sounds hollow, not like myself. Will turns towards me, and I see his gun clenched in his shaking fist. “And you’ll kill me too? Without Damien, without my friends, I have nothing. Go ahead and add me to your list, Will.” 

His gun clatters when it hits the ground, he drops to his knees and clings to his head. “They were accidents, all of them. I never wanted to kill anyone, but Mark said… I can’t… I can’t have killed anyone, I couldn’t have,” 

He looks to me then, I see honest distress in his eyes, but I can’t find it in myself to try and comfort him. Accident or not, three people are dead here. And Damien and Celine… I still haven’t gotten into the room. I stand slowly, pull a long pin from my hair as I approach the door. The lock is simple enough, some jimmying and it opens easily for me. I open the door slowly, not sure I’m willing to see what waits there. And all I find, the only things that remain, Celine’s occult set up, and Damien’s cane abandoned on the floor. “No… Where are they? Why aren’t the bodies-” I cut myself off, not wanting to continue the assumption that they’re dead. I bend to the floor and grab Damien’s cane, I sob as I hold it to my chest. 

I feel Will’s hand on my shoulder, trying to be reassuring. I knock his hand off of me when I turn and shove the cane into his chest, letting him grab it before letting go. “I have nothing _because of you_!” 

I storm past him, not sure where to go. I find myself in “Damien’s” room. Though he hadn’t lived here, he had stayed over often enough he was given one of the guest rooms to call his own. There wasn’t much personalization, only some spare clothes in the closet, and a handful of pictures on the flat surfaces of the room. And a vase with a single white rosebud among the pictures. I grab the flower, hold it so tightly I feel the small thorns tear into my hand. I cling to the flower for hours, quietly crying while looking at the picture in Damien’s room. Him and Celine, group shots of the guys, group pictures with me, and ones with us all and Celine. All of us smiling, truly happy. A picture of Mark and Damien together, clearly hiding laughter beneath a serious face since it was a formal portrait. And then, a picture of the two of us together, a candid of us laughing and hugging. I take it from the frame, tuck it into my dress so I can keep it. Most of my pictures with him are formal portraits, I want to remember him smiling. I look up and am shocked to see that it’s light outside. I force myself to stand, I need to leave here, get help. I hear Will’s voice as I go down the stairs, it sounds like he’s calling for Damien and Celine, asking where they are. He must have truly slipped over the edge if he’s still searching for them as if they’re alive. There’s no hope of that here. I turn the corner from the stairs, and find myself face to face with “Damien?” 

His hair is messy, parted the wrong way, and there are dark smudges around his eyes. But he’s wearing the suit, albeit missing many pieces Damien would never go without, and he’s holding his cane, and it’s his face. His eyes are dark though, and he just tilts his head to the side, studying me. There is no recognition on his face. “Damien, wha-” 

I’m cut off by his hand around my throat, dragging me closer to him. “Do _not_ call me that.” He growls. 

I scream- and the screen cuts to black with the haunting final chords of the piano dragging. 

“So we’re done!” Ethan exclaims, still peppy even though we’ve been up for hours editing the videos. But they’re ready for upload, finally. I force myself to respond with enthusiasm, though I feel sick. Watching the videos was like living the events again, which was the goal of Mark’s idea of course. He wanted to show the audience our truth, though they would never know that. It was for the best that they and our friends never learn the truth. Mark and I built this life on lies, it’s not time to break that yet. 


End file.
